Interpersonal Communication
Purpose: Learning to think critically and analyze an empirical research study is an essential skill to develop early in your academic career; reviewing a well-written article will help your own writing skills, increase your ability to read professional writing, and aid in developing the ability to recognize valid research. Further, this assignment will help you recognize the weaknesses in published research and writing, and help you overcome your own flaws in grammar and logic.
End goal: You will write 2½ – 3 pages and no more than 3 pages plus a cover page, abstract page, and a reference page. You must follow APA guidelines provided in the “Start Here” folder in Blackboard. Your article must be a review of a scholarly, empirical research study. Only one study is to be summarized and review in your article, it is not to be a complication of many studies. The author of the article must have conducted the study in the article he/she/or a team of people have written. See the rubric in Blackboard where this assignment is posted for a breakdown regarding how this assignment will be graded.
What type of article should be used for this assignment? Here is a great link that explains the difference between newspapers, magazines, and scholarly articles: http://libguides.uwrf.edu/ScholarlyArticles. There is a video on this webpage that is a must see!
As a last resort, you can use the “scholarly article” search on Google; or go to www.refseek.com. However, not all “hits” will be appropriate for this assignment. Again, the article must be about one study that was conducted by researchers for the format outlined in this assignment to work correctly for your paper. It cannot be a review about several studies – just one that the author(s) conducted.
Submitting the paper: You must submit your paper you must use only one of the three file types: .doc, .docx, or .pdf. You cannot submit any other file type – if you do it will not be graded. You can save your file using any document processing program with one of the types outlined. You must download the file by clicking on either “download as…” or “save as…” and pick one of the types listed. Problems? Call the Help Center or email me with specific questions.
Sections of the article critique paper: It is to be written in APA format and include a cover page, an abstract, and a reference page. The body of your paper needs to include appropriate section headings and further (1) proper in-text citations, (2) sparing use of direct quotes only when absolutely necessary, (3) avoidance of personal statements, e.g., “I” and “My” statements, and (4) avoidance of contractions, e.g., can’t versus cannot.
A critique of scholarly research should be written in an objective and analytical manner. You will begin with a cover page and end with a reference page. The paper itself will have 5 sections, what you see below are the section headings with summaries of what goes in to each section. To be clear, each section must be written in paragraph form. The sections are:
I. Introduction and Statement of Purpose
a. Briefly describe what the study was about in about one paragraph; however, avoid getting into too much detail. Subsequent sections will be used to address further details about the study.
b. Summarize the author(s) general purpose for carrying out this study; keep in mind there may be more than one purpose.
II. Theoretical Assumptions and Thesis/Hypothesis
a. Briefly describe the theoretical assumption(s) associated with the proposed thesis/hypothesis (or hypotheses). Be very clear if there are multiple hypotheses, and utilize appropriate subheadings if needed.
b. Identify the thesis provided (hint: look for the proposed hypothesis); there may be more than one hypothesis.
III. Methods
a. Concisely, but thoroughly, describe the main aspects of the study methodology.
b. Detail information regarding the study design, participants (e.g., who were they, how were they recruited, how many were there?), variables of interest (i.e., independent, dependent, and other showcased variables), data collection process (i.e., what was the timeframe of the data collection, what data collection instruments were used, were the instruments reliable and valid, what was done with the data?), and operational definitions of key terms if necessary.
IV. Results
a. Identify the major findings of the study, especially in relation to the thesis/hypothesis.
b. Clearly state if the hypothesis was supported or not; if there were multiple hypotheses, be sure to address each one.
c. Explain any other important statistical relationships that were found.
V. Assessment of the Study and Limitations
a. Describe your impression of how the author(s) conducted the study.
b. Depict if you believe the methodology is appropriate. Whether your answer is “yes” or “no,” be sure to justify your answer. Could the study design have been improved? Is there anything you would have done differently?
c. Identify the stated limitations or flawed logic of the study.
d. Discuss what we can learn from this study and/or what you have learned from it
VI. References
a. Include, on a separate page, your references for this critique
b. List your references in alphabetical order
c. Be sure to have hanging indentations for the all lines of each citation subsequent
to the first line Article Critique Requirements: You will find the following requirements in the APA handouts, below are a few basics not to be overlooked.
1. Properly formatted cover page (this will be the first page) – see example in APA manual
2. Proper use of the “running head” title – see the APA handouts to make sure this makes sense to you.
3. An abstract page that summarizes what we will learn from your paper in a one concise paragraph
4. Proper page numbering, i.e., the page numbers should appear in the upper right-hand corner of your assignment in the header of the document, not in the body of the document
5. The entire assignment should be strictly double-spaced, with no additional space before or after each line (check your paragraph settings).
6. Proper use of specified headings in APA format, i.e., each heading should be centered, with sentence-style capitalization
7. The entire assignment must be written in 12 pt. Times New Roman font, with 1” margins on all sides
8. The assignment is not to exceed 3 pages, not including the cover page, abstract page, and the reference page
9. The assignment is to be written in proper English, with college-level writing mechanics, e.g., spelling, verb usage and tense, grammar, vocabulary, sentence formation, and paragraph formation
10. Here are some alternatives to “I” and “my” statements:
? It is the belief of this researcher/student that…
? It is the opinion of this researcher/student that…
